You're on Mute: Meaning, Usage, and Examples

Meaning 1：Your microphone is muted (You're on mute)

You're on mute 🔊

/jɔːr ɒn mjuːt/

phr.

Used in video calls or online meetings to tell someone that their microphone is off, so others cannot hear them.

You're on mute icon on laptop during video call

Your microphone is muted 🔊

➕

/jɔr ˈmaɪkrəfoʊn ɪz ˈmjutɪd/

phr.

A phrase used in online meetings to inform someone that their microphone is not transmitting audio, often due to being on mute.

📁 Category：Technological Inventions 🔖 Level：beginner

📘 Details & Usage

📖 Root Explanation

Contraction of 'you are' + 'on' (indicating state) + 'mute' (silent).

💡 Mnemonic

Imagine a colleague pointing to the red mute icon on your screen during a meeting.

📖 Example

During the online team meeting, Tom was speaking animatedly, but we only saw his lips moving until Lisa kindly said, "You're on mute, Tom." 🔊 During the online team meeting, Tom was speaking animatedly, but we only saw his lips moving until Lisa kindly said, "You're on mute, Tom."

🔗 Collocations

put on mute – to enable the mute function for someone

take off mute – to disable the mute function for someone

unmute yourself – to turn off your own mute setting

🔄 Synonyms

You are muted (phr.) – A direct equivalent phrase indicating the microphone is not active.

Your mic is off (phr.) – An informal way to say the microphone is not transmitting sound.

Silent on the call (phr.) – Describes a participant whose audio is not being heard.

🚫 Antonyms

You're unmuted (phr.) – Indicates the microphone is active and audio is being transmitted.

You're live (phr.) – A casual way to say someone's audio is now audible.

You're audible (phr.) – Confirms that the person can be heard clearly.

🌱 Derivatives

mute (v./adj.) – to silence or the state of being silent

muted (adj.) – silenced; not producing sound

unmute (v.) – to turn off the mute function

📖 Cultural Story

This phrase gained popularity with the rise of remote work and video conferencing platforms like Zoom and Teams in the 2010s, becoming a standard polite reminder in virtual meetings.